Spindelegger: "Great success for judge Renate Winter"

Vice-Chancellor congratulates the successful Austrian candidate on her appointment to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

Vienna, 19 December 2012 – "I am delighted for Renate Winter and congratulate her most warmly on her appointment to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. She is the first Austrian to become a member of this important body. As a former juvenile court judge, international judge and as an expert in children's rights, Mag. Winter has gained decades of experience in the juvenile justice system and in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in national law. Her election is both a token of appreciation for her impressive professional career and a confirmation of her outstanding qualification for this task", Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said in his first reaction to Winter's appointment. "With her experience and her unrelenting commitment and dedication to the rights of children and young people, judge Winter will certainly contribute a most important input to the work in the UN Committe on the Rights of the Child. I wish her every success for this important task."

Mag. Renate Winter was elected in New York on 18 December. She had already been elected in the first round of voting and with 153 votes she achieved the second highest number of votes of approval of all candidates. 15 candidates from all regional groups of the United Nations had been up for election for 9 vacant seats.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child monitors the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by the 193 states that have so far joined the Convention. The Committee also regularly publishes general comments on the interpretation of the individual provisions of the convention, thus contributing to the further development of children's rights. The Committee is composed of 18 independent experts who are elected by the member states for a period of four years. The membership of the nine newly appointed experts starts on 1 March 2013.